Nifty, Sensex gain over 1 pc on strong earnings optimism, easing oil prices and IT buying

MUMBAI: Indian benchmark equity indices ended Friday’s session with gains of more than 1 per cent, supported by optimism over the upcoming first-quarter earnings season, easing crude oil prices, strong buying in information technology stocks and improved foreign investor sentiment. The NSE Nifty 50 closed at 24,206.90, up 244.10 points or 1.02 per cent, while the BSE Sensex settled at 77,569.39, gaining 827.57 points or 1.08 per cent.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, the market is showing signs of a strong recovery after a brief correction.

“After a brief interim correction, the market appears to be on track for a strong recovery. Positive business updates from banks, along with a constructive outlook for the IT sector driven by in-line estimates, a potential rebound in global spending, and AI-related opportunities, have set the stage for an optimistic start to the Q1 earnings season. A continuation of better-than-expected Q1 results should help alleviate concerns about future earnings growth. This can further the current uptrend which is supported by a broad-based rally, with strong participation from sectors such as real estate and metals,” he said.

He added that easing crude oil prices and a recovery in the technology sector have improved global sentiment towards India, leading to a rebound in foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows.

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty PSU Bank emerged as the top performer, surging more than 3 per cent. Nifty IT gained 1.96 per cent, Nifty Metal rose 1.48 per cent, Nifty Private Bank advanced 1.16 per cent, Nifty Auto climbed 0.69 per cent, and Nifty Pharma edged up 0.07 per cent. Nifty FMCG was the only sector to end in the red, slipping 0.08 per cent.

Brent crude prices declined marginally and were trading at USD 76.10 per barrel at the time of reporting. In the bullion market, gold prices fell 0.65 per cent to Rs 1,44,359 per 10 grams for 24-karat gold, while silver prices declined more than 1.4 per cent to Rs 2,23,103 per kilogram.

Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President-HNI & Derivatives at Hedged.in, said the rally reflected renewed buying interest in the market.

“The strong rally indicates renewed buying interest and reinforces the positive market trend. As long as benchmark indices continue to hold above their immediate support levels, the broader outlook remains bullish. Traders may continue to adopt a buy-on-dips strategy while maintaining disciplined risk management,” he said.

Asian markets also ended higher on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.42 per cent to close at 68,721, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.65 per cent to 5,469, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.45 per cent to 24,139, while South Korea’s Kospi rallied 2.46 per cent to close at 7,475. (ANI)